VietNamNet Bridge - The mid-end smartphone market segment with prices between VND6 million and VND10 million is attracting more customers. 

According to GfK, the sales of VND6-8 million smartphones increased from 5.5 percent to 6.6 percent of total smartphone sales, while the sales of VND8-10 million smartphones rose from 3.5 percent to 6.6 percent, during the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year. 

A report showed that of every 100 smartphones, 17 are low-cost products, 39 are ordinary phones and 21 mid-end products.

Smartphone manufacturers have upgraded configurations and design. In the past, fingerprint security, high-resolution camera and monolithic aluminum-alloy back were designed for high-end products. But now, the features appear on mid-tier phones as well.

Oppo’s F1s, which was marketed in August 2016, for example, has a configuration in no way inferior to a high-end product. It is sold for VND5.99 million only. 

Galaxy J7 Prime, which was launched on the market a month later, has many features of high-end smartphones but has selling prices of mid-end products. 

Analysts said that this is a ‘new weapon’ of Samsung, which is competing with Oppo, Sony and HTC, with the reasonable price of VND6.3 million.

In October, Freetel joined the Vietnamese market with Samurai REI, advertised as having ‘Japanese quality’ and a ‘competitive price’. 

The mid-end smartphone market segment with prices between VND6 million and VND10 million is attracting more customers.

Also in October, Meizu marketed Meizu MX6 priced at VND6.99 million. The manufacturer is confident in its competitiveness with 6P anti-glare lens technology and capability of taking pictures in low-light conditions.

Even Mobiistar, the Vietnamese brand, which focuses on the low-cost market segment, has jumped into the mid-end market segment with Prime X Pro, advertised as integrated with advanced security technology, which is usually found in some high-end smartphone models.

The original feature of Prime X Pro is that users can unlock the phones with iris scanner thanks to the front camera. This is the feature that Samsung has designed for its Galaxy Note 7, and Mobistar is the first Vietnamese smartphone manufacturer that has the feature for its products.

Arthur Wang, business director of Media Tek, said the smartphone market would be even more competitive next year, as manufacturers would compete in multimedia.

Manufacturers will improve the quality of cameras, and the fierce competition would lead camera quality towards professional DSLR cameras.

Other manufacturers have said they will upgrade sale and post-sale services to attract more customers. 

Huawei has put customer service at the center of its operation, while Oppo said it would set up more maintenance centers. Mobiistar has not spent big money on ad campaigns, but has attractive sales programs.


Mai Chi